MAJURO — Local business people in the Marshall Islands say the national government is stifling business development by its inability to process work permits for skilled aliens in a timely manner.
Several local businesses report that it takes a minimum of three-to-four months to get work permits approved, a time period that frustrates the ability of businesses to bring in needed supervisors on a timely basis.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Labor Office is being criticized in particular by Majuro Motors general manager Anoop Kumar, a Fiji national, for doing little to assist local businesses with legitimate alien labor needs.
Foreign Minister Gerald Zackios said that he’s received “numerous concerns from the private sector” that the Labor Office is withholding approval of applications. “I welcome the complaints,” he said, adding that he’s looking into them. “We need to get our house in order. But as we restructure, we also need the private sector to assist us (following the law) by repatriating alien laborers after two years.”
Kumar, who runs a car dealership and auto repair company, said he’s been bringing alien workers into the Marshall Islands for 10 years and has never experienced a problem as bad as it has become this year.
“Even though the Labor Office has all the documents, the permits have been waiting for approval for three months,” Kumar said Friday. “They keep telling me they are ‘still processing’ the applications.”
It’s having a big impact on his auto business, he said. “I can’t run my business,” he said.
Kumar said he’s trying to bring in skilled workers who can train and supervise local workers. But he looks around and sees a growing number of foreign workers who are waitresses, bar attendants and companions, and taxi drivers who are operating without work permits or foreign investment business licenses. “Majority of these positions can be filled by local employees and some positions shouldn’t even exist in a small community like Majuro,” he said. “Why is the Labor Department allowing these people to work illegally?”
But when “we request to bring in non-resident skilled workers such as electricians, refrigeration repair technicians, motor mechanics, body-fender men, engineers, professional senior managers in retail and wholesale, we are given so much hard time, troubles and delays.”
By the time they get approved, the alien workers he wants to hire may have taken other jobs because they’re tired of waiting for the Marshall Islands to okay their applications, Kumar said. Other local business managers who asked not to be named said they had similar experiences as Kumar with getting alien work permits processed.
In response to these complaints, Zackios said he discussed the alien labor situation relating to Kumar specifically with the Labor Office staff last week. An issue the Labor Office raised is that some of the aliens who worked for Kumar previously had not been repatriated and were working for other companies. “I asked if this is grounds for withholding approval of new applications?” Zackios said. “It it’s not, then we should issue the new permits and go after previous violations.”
Zackios said that he has told staff in the Ministry’s Labor Office that if there are grounds to withhold approval of an alien worker application, then the office should issue a response to the local company with an explanation of the reason.
Zackios said that the government sees a problem of some companies bringing in aliens but not returning them to their home countries at the end of their contracts as required by law.
Alien workers-–with the exception of citizens of the United States, the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau which have reciprocal arrangements–-are required by law to leave the country after two years.
“We need the cooperation of the private sector on this,” he said.
